President of Uzbekistan bets on youth

The contemporary process of dynamic scientific and technological development as well increasing competition in the global world, competitiveness of each country and society is becoming dependent on the intellectual advancement of young people as well as the attention given to the full realization of their talents and abilities.

Hence, this issue is always entailed in all strategic documents aimed at ensuring the long-term progress of states. The Strategy on Five Priority Directions of Development of the Republic of Uzbekistan from 2017 to 2021 is no exception.

A separate section is devoted to the improvement of the state youth policy in the strategy.

There are complex priority tasks called to increase the effectiveness of state policy on youth — 10 million citizens of Uzbekistan or 31 percent of the population of the country.
In this context, the need to create the Youth Union of Uzbekistan (YUU) was dictated by current life. It requires YUU to address the most significant issues in young people's lives. Special attention is drawn to the creation of decent conditions for young people not involved in education and work. In order to help them find the right place in life the country is providing all-round support for the young. It includes vocational and employment assistance in addition to stimulating their initiatives.

June 30 — the founding date of the Youth Union — was notably symbolic as it was announced to be the Day of Youth in Uzbekistan. The Union would become an organization that ensures effective interaction of youth with government bodies, NGOs and other institutions of civil society in the implementation of state policy on youth.

All the professional activities of YUU are conducted under the slogan "Youth are the creators of the future." From our point of view, the motto was not chosen occasionally. It reflects the principal approach of the President Shavkat Mirziyoyev — relying on the youth — in his strategy to develop the country.

This is proved by the fact that Office on Youth Policy was founded within the President Administration of Uzbekistan, which is headed by the State adviser to the President — the Chairman of YUU. It demonstrates that youth issues will always be in the focus of attention of the President.

It should be emphasized that the results of any organization's activities are invisible without the necessary amount of material support. In this regard, eight percent of single tax payments from small businesses will be transferred to the YUU Development Fund. Subsidiary training enterprises organized under the Youth Union of Uzbekistan on various subjects (foreign languages, computer programming, business studies and others) will be exempted from all types of taxes for 10 years. Moreover, 20 percent of the revenues of such enterprises will be aided to the Development Fund.

Taking advantage of the created conditions the Union has already started to form "young power" that determines the future of the country. Thus, YUU is establishing various youth associations, centers of social and psychological assistance as well as a number of major events.

Currently, the Union is conducting research on the interests and problems of Uzbek youth who have left for foreign countries for educational and labor purposes. The organization is also taking measures to establish cooperation with international youth organizations and similar unions of other states that would allow studying the best experiences in working with young people. In this regard, representatives of the Youth Union paid visits to China and Kazakhstan recently. In the near future similar they plan to visit Russia, the Republic of Korea, Germany and other countries.
It should be highlighted that a number of concrete measures are being taken in the country aimed to stimulate the activities of young people in socio-political life.

Appointments of promising young people to high public office became the subject of wide discussion in global network. 22-year-old Alisher Sadullayev, graduate of the Management Development Institute of Singapore in Tashkent, was selected as Deputy Minister of Public Education, and 25-year-old Olimjon Tuychiev, graduate of the Turin Polytechnic University in Tashkent, became Deputy Director General of the Agency for Science and Technology.

Alisher Sadullaev said in an interview with local media that by this assignment, the Head of State intends to urge young people to be courageous and express their ideas openly. The opinion of the young officials vividly determines Shavkat Mirziyoyev's desire to stimulate the younger generation morally.

Another noteworthy step was the start of the Youth Press Club, which became a platform for excellent and timely coverage of events in the lives young people.
It considers holding an open dialogue with the representatives of governmental bodies, experts in the community and media for constructive discussion of youth issues.
This platform will also help to increase the activity of the young in the social life and politics of the country.

The recently created Institute for Youth Issues Research and Prospective Personnel Training at the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan will be the key to social mobility of the youth. It can be concluded that the Institute is aimed to nurture ambitious responsibilities as following:
-forming a database of promising and talented young specialists from various governmental bodies as well as other organizations;
-monitoring of their professional development;
-preparation of proposals for the promotion of these personnel to managerial positions;
-establishment of training for requalification and advanced education of young staff within public organizations.

Considering all the mentioned factors, Uzbekistan is taking measures to increase the role of youth in its social life and politics. In this regard, emphasis is made on the comprehensive support of youth initiatives, both from the government and youth organizations. Based on this, it can be claimed that young people have a special place on a new stage of Uzbekistan's development.

Yusupov S. and Rabbimov D.,
research fellows of the Institute for Strategic and Regional Studies under the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan